India’s leading bicycle manufacturer Hero Cycles has made a loud entry on online space with Sports365.in, one of India’s leading fitness, recreation and sports-related e-commerce portals.

With this new partnership, Hero Cycles would sell its entire product range on Sports365.in, which is an aim to expand its geographical reach across the country.

Commenting on this business move, Pankaj Munjal, Co-Chairman and MD, Hero Cycles said, “We have been closely watching the evolution of our consumers’ behavioral pattern. We decided to make our entire range of cycles available online to make it easier and more convenient for our buyers to pick, compare and choose from our wide range offerings. These cycles will be home delivered to our customers through our existingchannels of distribution.”

Nevertheless, the Hero Cycles has also roped in Bollywood ActorArjun Kapoor as the new brand ambassador, who was seen promoting wellness by encouraging people to ride bicycle daily.

“Hero Cycles has been part of my life since my childhood just like so many other children in India. I feel cycles are not just a means of transport, but can be one of the best ways to keep fit. I strongly feel cycling should also be taken up by all of us as environment conscious citizens. I am sure that even more and more people will take up cycling in days to come,” saidKapoor.

Moreover, together Munjal and Kapoor showcased the online presence of their product on Sports365.in during the announcement event during which, Kapoor purchased his first AK (Arjun Kapoor) limited edition Celebrity range of bicycle, dedicated to the association of the actor with Hero Cycles, from the partnering website.

Sports365.in is India’s largest online platform providing a widechoice of equipment, apparel, accessories and nutritional products. The company is a collaborative effort of India’s best known sporting icons, industry experts and experienced professionals.

Meanwhile, justifying the feel of purchasing a product online, Munjal said, “When the product comes home and the father son are together and go for cycling- those emotions at flow are invaluable. Otherwise, life is too fast to retain car is preferable, but really if you own a car and still ride cycle it would be far more benefiting to health.”

He further added, “The eCommerce segment is most exciting.Though, eCommerce has slowed down the health activity while speeden up the business activity. You transact over the phone, communicated on the phone but you don’t go to meet him(the seller) or check on the shop to feel the product. There is no doubt we have to be there. So we did a lot of study and sought out what is required. I mean if you order a sexy looking product on the internet and when the product is delivered, youwant it to be perfectly delivered or else, you gona (sic) throw itback. So, we did a lot of study on last mile not connectivity butservice. So, if you buy a cycle, it should be aligned, air should be inflated, the gears to be fine tune so we’ve spent time onthat and we’ve launched it online,” said Munjal.

Earlier, with an aim to encourage consumers to take up cycling as a routine activity to shed weight and maintain health and fitness, Hero Cycles had also partnered with International Bollywood awards event -IIFA held in Malaysia recently.

“We’ve got 2000 dealers and if you go in very remote areas, they didn’t even get a single opportunity to go out of their villages. Thus, to show them the world outside their villages, we’ve made our dealers sit next to (Bollywood Divas) Madhuri (Dixit Nene) and Jacqueline (Fernandez) to make them aware of outside world and follow the same strategy to sell their productsSo, my dealers are extremely motivated. We did conferenceswith IIFA and you would see it on July 5 IIFA Awards telecaston TV. This way Hero and IIFA are associated,” noted Munjal.

Significantly, during the ongoing weeklong IIFA snapshots telecasting on the leading entertainment channel Colors, the brand’s new face Actor Arjun Kapoor is promoting wellness by encouraging people to take up cycling as a daily fitness routine.The star is expected to promote wellness campaign of the brand across major tier II and III cities of India, says the official Facebook page of Hero Cycles.

Established in 1956, Hero Cycles has a manufacturing capacity of 7.5 million bicycles per year, with its unit in Ludhiana (Punjab), Bihar & Ghaziabad. The company has highly integrated plant in Ludhiana which produces 19,000 cycles every day. It also manufactures automotive rims and various other auto components. The company had produced 5.5 million bicycles in FY14 and sold product worth Rs 2,000 crores.

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